Yes planned obsolence became standard part of technology. It is not coinsidence, that so many products broke up very soon after they warranty is off.
In my country there is financial group made of billionares called PENTA, they sponsor politicians and own huge pharmaceutical network. They are so rich, that they are able to sell under the value for years. By this, they completly destroy all little guys. They ruin them and then buy them. In year all pharmacies in my town turned from privatly owned by little guys to PENTA owned Dr.MAX.
very sad.
I never heard of them before but PENTA I assume are this group
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penta_InvestmentsBut it is true that there are strong financial groups in every country that aim to well outmarket the market by pushing down prices then killing the competitors readjusting the prices upwards.
But in a world where we can be accurate to the nanograde with lasers it feels like a waste that we build stuff with such low lifespans now kind of reverse engineering and designing for it to fail lol.